Endangered Urban Park in Ivory Coast Gets a Wall of Protection
Authorities in Banco National Park in Abidjan, Ivory Coast's commercial city, are installing a concrete perimeter wall to preserve the park's unique ecosystem from illegal logging and pollution.
The Banco covers about 34 square kilometres (13 square miles) in western Abidjan, making it the world's second-largest urban park after Rio de Janeiro's Tijuca National Park.
Locals regard some of the city's wildlife, which includes monkeys chimps, and 500-year-old trees, as sacred, and its trails are a paradise for hikers and cyclists seeking a break from the city's congested streets.
Banco, on the other hand, is under threat from Abidjan's increasing growth. Officials claim that residents illegally cut down trees to build houses and dump their trash in the woods. Officials from the National Park Service are on a mission to end the practice.
Adama Tondossama, director-general of the Ivorian Office of Parks and Reserves, said:
"In reality, it’s 12km of fencing for a perimeter of 24km because a lot of the boundary has already been whittled away here and there to build urban lots."
Tondossama expressed the hope that the efforts to protect Banco would lead to its inclusion on the UNESCO list of world heritage sites.
The groundwater table of Banco supplies 40 per cent of Abidjan's drinking water and absorbs 90,000 tonnes of CO2. Parks officials have been collaborating with residents to avoid misunderstandings about the wall and emphasise the importance of forest preservation.
Source: Aljazeera
